Posted on 10/13/2006 7:22:58 AM PDT by Señor Zorro
Microsoft has released licenses for the Windows Vista operating system that dramatically differ from those for Windows XP in that they limit the number of times that retail editions can be transferred to another device and ban the two least-expensive versions from running in a virtual machine.
The new licenses, which were highlighted by the Vista team on its official blog Tuesday, add new restrictions to how and where Windows can be used.
"The first user of the software may reassign the license to another device one time. If you reassign the license, that other device becomes the "licensed device," reads the license for Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Ultimate, and Business. In other words, once a retail copy of Vista is installed on a PC, it can be moved to another system only once.
The new policy is narrower than Windows XP's. In the same section, the license for Windows XP Home states: "You may move the Software to a different Workstation Computer. After the transfer, you must completely remove the Software from the former Workstation Computer." There is no limit to the number of times users can make this move. Windows XP Professional's license is identical.
Elsewhere in the license, Microsoft forbids users from installing Vista Home Basic and Vista Home Premium in a virtual machine. "You may not use the software installed on the licensed device within a virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system," the legal language reads. Vista Ultimate and Vista Business, however, can be installed within a VM.
Vista Home Basic, at $199 for a full version and $99 for an upgrade, and Vista Home Premium ($239/$159), are the two most-affordable retail editions of the operating system scheduled to appear on store shelves in January 2007.
Although the Vista team's blog did not point out these changes, it did highlight others. "Two notable changes between Windows Vista license terms and those for Windows XP are: 1) failure of a validation check results in the loss of access to specific features; and 2) an increase in our warranty period from 90 days to 1 year, which brings Windows in line with most other Microsoft products," wrote Vista program manager Nick White.
Specifically, the Vista license calls out the ramifications of a failed validation check of Vista.
"The software will from time to time validate the software, update or require download of the validation feature of the software," it reads. "If after a validation check, the software is found not to be properly licensed, the functionality of the software may be affected."
Vista's new anti-piracy technologies, collectively dubbed "Software Protection Platform," have met with skepticism by analysts and criticism by users. Under the new program, a copy of Vista that's judged to be in violation of its license, or is counterfeit, is disabled after a set period, leaving the user access only to the default Web browser, and then only for an hour at a time.
LMAO, "cluelessness" is claiming PC hardware vendors are suddenly going to start their first initial releases of Linux systems, instead of releasing new systems featuring the new O/S from Microsoft. Claiming that requires some of the most convoluted logic ever displayed by man.
I come and go as I please. Most of you Microsoft haters have to use it for a living.
"4 of my 5 PCs run Linux. It just isn't worth all the money and BS from MS just to have Vista."
I'm dual booted on two of my three computers and the only thing I can't live without is an old edition of Autocad. So, I will run Win2000 until it drops and then I'm off the reservation. It's not just the cost of Microsoft, it's the uncertainty of not knowing what they will do on the following releases after Vista.
Microsoft is following the Novel path to extinction. Novel thought they couldn't be replaced to and had restrictive licenses, and nearly went completely out of business.
Novell had arrogance that wasn't justified as they were usurped by equal or better technology that was much easier to use. Apple and Microsoft both have arrogance as well, but neither is threatened by better tech or ease of use when it comes to desktops.
[Ditto large installations like investment banks, etc. They don't need the features/complexity of Vista - they need stable platforms+fat servers from which they can hire their **own** finance PhDs to develop proprietary analytics, etc.
For execs running these types of firms, they're probably hearing from consultants about how they need to create their own internal 'Google' ops, while at the same time avoid spending time & money on some crazy Vista upgrade.
In a way, it's somewhat analogous to Roger Smith investing in robots at GM in the 80s instead of focusing on cars. They got so behind the curve, they'll probably never recover. Ditto today's companies: the key is to focus on how to best develop/deliver applications for one's specific company using the technology/techniques perfected by Google.]
Had to quote nearly everything you said, so well put.
Here's another thing, Microsoft also screwed up their grid computing licenses on purpose so if you are a farm you'd be nutso to go Vista. So Microsoft has locked themselves out of the truly big end hardware. I'm just a one man programmer do stuff for my in house business, but even I can see using grids big time down the road, so that is the final nail for me.
Those products he mentioned like Mono are just direct clones of MS products, I doubt they'll ever overtake the original and instead seem to be a desperate attempt to find a small niche in the growing .NET world before they were left completely on the outside looking in.
MS is really going to make me bite the bullet and move over to Linux....They're getting more twisty nasty in their old age...
They're just locking their product down more like Apple has always done. Their bet is that won't be a problem for most of their current customers, who prefer security to tinkerability.
You know better than that. Linux was designed for x86 platforms, and runs better on low-end stuff like Pentium-1 better than any version of Windows, even the old DOS-based 9x and ME series.
I do believe in capitalism, but MS is offering a product in a somewhat monopolistic mode that I don't feel good about, so I am doing the capitalistic thing by looking for usable alternatives. I'm not above paying for it, either, like I seldom use the free versions of software because I believe the author deserves the pay for the product.
I'm going to vote with my feet and my pocketbook. Not necessarily or particularly to Apple, either.
All systems? Wrong again.
AS/400s, mainframes, Macs, RISC processors, etc., aren't even capable of running Windows.
X-Copy was pulled in the US but not overseas. DVD-Shrink is on the net and regularly updated.
If you want to use an HD DVD player or a BluRay player to stream content throughout your home, EVERYTHING will have to comply with the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). The "CONTENT PROVIDERS" are the very force that required that draconian copyright technologies be utilized before they would support the formats.
If you study what they have done, even if someone finds a way to hack a certain player, that player's seed keys will be cancelled and ALL of that model will be rendered useless until or unless firmware or hardware mods can be installed to ensure any hole is plugged. How? It will be put onto every movie sold after the hack is discovered. Play any content pressed after the date of the hack and your player will be disabled.
This is not "easy" like DVD was. Now if you want to engineer your own home theater server (and they have existed far longer than MS has dabbled with them), then you will need content. Where are you going to get it. Over the Air? OK, but it is not of the quality or bandwidth of the new HD formats, which are "Transparent to the Master" in quality. Satellite? OK, but even here we have compression artifacts to deal with. They exist in the original uplink encodes, and macroblocking, excessive grain etc are visible.
A New generation of motherboards and video cards also have to meet these DMCA requirements to work with the new formats and Vista. It will NOT output HD material into a display or video card that is not HDMI/HDCP enabled. Even if you capture this HDMI signal, at 1.5gbs, how are you going to record this uncompressed data stream (at 1.5 gigs per second)? It was engineered for this very reason. So you will need an encoder at $300,000.00 or more to encode it in MPEG2, MPEG4, h.264, or VC1. Then you can burn it to disc.
The new formats also contain up to 7.1 channels of uncompressed PCM audio or Dolby or DTS HD formats (True HD and Dolby Plus), but you must get a new surround receiver with HDMI 1.3 (5c and HDCP enabled copy protection) or you are not going to hear these new formats... 5.1 channel analog will pass the data, but not in digital form. DD 5.1 and DTS-ex are available via toslink (optical), but this is just the audio format present on DVD's.
No, MS and hollyweird have crushed "Fair USe Rights" and this time they will get away with it because (under 'toon) they passed these laws that allow them to.
LLS
While they probably are the biggest open source network even they probably don't have 20,000. Did you see the recent articles about them switching from Linux to OpenSolaris?
"I'd like to ask the list what are the best development environments (IDEs) on Linux for C++ GUI desktop apps. My point of reference is Microsoft Visual Studio 2005. Also, a related question. Is there a possibility that dot-net will become widespread on Linux?"
I went to Java a couple years ago because I saw all this Microcrap coming and knew it would heavily affect my bottom line. I use netbeans (www.netbeans.org) as my ide. It is pretty darn sophisticated now, and FREE, and it also can be used with other languages, though I haven't had the need. Will run on Linux OR Microsoft, so you can slide over.
I run java into mysql on linux, save boocoo bucks and aggravation from forced upgrades and drm.
Those are mostly servers, which are typically outnumbered by at least 10 to 1 by desktops, and server sales are currently 70% Windows anyway, so you're only talking about .3 of the .1 maketshare servers even have in the tally of all computers. I said ~90% which is still probably about right, will you settle for 88%?
-- They foresee their Vista Media Center as the entertainment hub of the home.--
Why would I begin to want to do that sort of stuff?
You are correct it won't be easy or cheap to make perfect copies of someone else's copyright protected HD signal, but should it be? And from way things are shaping up Linux systems may have a hard time even playing those signals due to open source licensing conflicts.
http://arstechnica.com/paedia/hardware/hdcp-vista.ars
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.